I'm willing to write a post again.

I admire you all who've put teams together. Here, too, I think it'd be difficult to do. I agree with others who recommend math summer camps. My 8th grade daughter is doing one this summer that is run by our state's ARML, and she is looking forward to it. In the past, she's done the online interactive For the Win on the AoPS website, but I think she's looking forward to more face to face group work. A summer math camp seems like an atmosphere your daughter would thrive in, but you may have to wait until she's a little older. Good luck.

I also wanted to encourage your daughter (if you don't find enough students for a team) to compete in Mathcounts as an Individual. When we went to our first competition I had no idea what to expect, nor did I have high expectations. We found the other students and public/private school teachers to be friendly towards us knowing we were homeschoolers especially at the chapter level. At the state level, we still felt welcome though you could feel that there was a sense of competition in the air...not only towards us but also between the competing public and private schools. My daughter was invited and will join a private school math team in the fall (though I'm still homeschooling her). She's excited about this, and I think it brings a whole new perspective for her with math competitions. So I can understand why you'd want your daughter to be part of a group. However, I think competing as an individual helped my daughter to recognize her weaknesses and to develop her strengths, and I'm glad she participated. Good luck. :)

You've already gotten some great ideas. Another way to prepare that hasn't already been mentioned is AoPS For the Win. My daughter used that as one of the ways to prepare for the State Mathcounts this spring (though she competed as an Individual and not on a team). Basically, you compete against others using previous math competition problems to earn points in a real time chat format. It's an interactive approach.

I think of the AoPS Volume 1 Problem Solving Basics text as a summary of many elementary math topics with helpful tips geared towards math competitions. It would be helpful (but not necessary) to have covered topics like Number Theory or Counting and Probability first. I think it really depends on the background of the child. In my daughter's case she did AoPS Volume 1 during the same semester when she was doing the second half of the AoPS Geometry, and it went well for her. For her it wasn't necessary to have finished the Geometry textbook first. I think several of these books (AoPS Number Theory, Counting and Probability, Volume 1:The Basics) could be done simultaneously. The prerequisite would probably be the first half of the AoPS Algebra book or some other Algebra I course for a less frustrating experience.

My 8th grade daughter competed in and did well in our State Mathcounts and the AMC's 8 and 10 this school year. Her best preparation so far I think has been having a strong understanding of the basic topics from using more challenging math throughout her elementary years. From the time she was in 2nd grade we'd do a problem solving day once or twice a week. For this she used Singapore Math CWP and IP books, Russian Math 6. When in 6th grade, she moved to AoPS texts from Introduction to Algebra onward which included daily problem solving. Depending on which competition your son is taking, for practice problems you may want to get some previous exams from more recent years. I think the difficultly levels will be more comparable to what may show up on a future exam. You may also want to time him so that he gets used to the pace of an exam. I also like the book, Art of Problem Solving Volume 1, The Basics. Some of these problems can get very indepth with proofs and geometry, so you may want to wait until after he's completed Algebra and had a little Geometry to begin. Also, AoPS Counting and Probability and Number Theory books also cover some of the math that may show up that would not be found in most regular math texts. Good luck! :)

He deserves the award. :)

I have another winter scene: Deer Devotion.

Seeking to see the beauty of winter: Winter Wonderland - Wordless Wednesday.

I appliqued four furry bears in the next section of my nine year old's North Woods quilt: North Woods Quilt Quest Part 5. I'm not sure how to upload a photo, so you can see it a the the link. It had some deep inside points that were a little tricky.

I enjoy seeing what other crafters are up to. Thanks for sharing. For me, I've got the third section from the bottom done - a hand-appliqued section with a cabin and four trees on my North Woods Quilt Quest Part 4. Posts on how I constructed the earlier sections can be found on the website, Artistic Angle, if you want to follow along. ;)

A little art designed by the Explorer, 6: Paper Tie - Wordless Wednesday ;)

I had the feeling we were being watched this morning...and we were: Daylight Deer. ;)

Since it's such a big project and a bit off topic of my other blog, I've moved my North Woods Quilt Quest posts to a new location, Artistic Angle. :) I've now finished the more difficult first section (a bottom row). You're welcome to check out an update I posted last night: North Woods Quilt Quest - Part 2.

I'm not familiar with Code Academy, but you may like KidCoder: Beginning Web Design. My daughter is on the last lesson, and I think she's learned a lot. We're waiting for the next level, Advanced Web Design, which is due out this month sometime. Good luck.

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I wanted to share an update on my son's quilt project. I'm posting about my progress as I complete sections. Here's the first post Fabric Art: North Woods Quilt Quest. You're welcome to follow along as I go. I'm hoping to stay motivated.

Wordless: a fun photo: Hungry Hummingbird. Word-filled: My attempt to keep up with a hobby and homeschool: Fabric Art: North Woods Quilt Quest.

I'll join. Mine is mostly wordless. For those of us who experienced extreme cold this week, A Pleasant Reminder. ;)

Not wordless, but: Looking Ahead in 2014 Happy New Year!

I just posted Looking Ahead in 2014 on my blog. I took my 8yo son to the quilt store a few days ago, and we picked out some fabric for his North Woods quilt. There is a sketch of it in the above post a little way down. I decided to design it myself, because I couldn't find a pattern that I liked everything about. I was inspired by a few quilts I saw, and I put everything together into a drawing. It could take awhile, but it should be fun. ;)

:grouphug: :grouphug:

Writing Poetry :001_cool:

I do. We're able to deduct educational expenses from our state taxes, so it's helpful in that way. I've noticed our yearly amounts increase each year as our children get to middle school age, but the largest part of that is paying for outsourced classes. I find that I don't curriculum hop much now that I've found a balance that seems to work for us, and reusing books that I used with older children saves us money.

For this week, I'm going to share my Mapping the World with Art Review. This took us about 1.5 years to finish, and I treated it as a fun elective to do on Thursdays when we had time available. Our other subjects are going pretty good, though I do feel more pressure during the holiday season.